Kemba Smith Pradia voted for the first time in her life in Indianapolis city elections last fall .

This year , she moved from Indiana to Virginia , a few months ahead of the November presidential election , in which she 'd very much like to cast her ballot .

But she ca n't . Pradia is a former felon , and in Virginia , people convicted of violent felonies , drug crimes , and certain other offenses must wait for five years before even applying for a gubernatorial restoration of voting rights . That 's five years after serving your sentence , finishing supervised probation and paying all fines and restitution . And those five years have to be clean -- no misdemeanors or pending convictions , or the application is void .

Such laws -- which exist in various forms in 11 other states besides Virginia -- mean that an estimated 5.8 million people do not have the right to vote , according to ProCon.org , a non-partisan group that researches and tracks controversial issues .

The NAACP launched a nationwide campaign Tuesday to restore voting rights for ex-felons , saying that state efforts to block such rights are thinly veiled attempts to suppress the black vote .

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous kicked off the campaign in Florida , which has the highest level of disenfranchisement in the country .

`` What this comes down to really is , do you think voting is a right or is it a privilege ? Because if voting is a right , people who have paid their debt to society should be allowed to vote , '' Jealous said earlier Tuesday on `` CNN Newsroom . ''

In 2007 , then-Gov . Charlie Crist of Florida , a Republican at the time , signed reforms to allow former felons who 'd completed their sentences to more easily get their voting rights restored . Four years later , Republican Gov. Rick Scott reversed those reforms , imposing a five - to seven-year waiting period and a complicated application process to get civil rights restored .

In issuing the new rules for voting rights for ex-felons , Scott said the changes `` are intended to emphasize public safety and ensure that all applicants desire clemency , deserve clemency , and demonstrate they are unlikely to reoffend . ''

`` It stands to reason that individuals who have committed serious violence or sexual offenses ; abused the privilege of holding public office ; endangered society with poisonous drugs ; or carried a firearm after they have been convicted should be required to attend a hearing and explain why their rights should be restored , '' Scott said in a statement in March of 2011 .

According to a study of state data by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times , 7,000 people were removed from Florida 's voter rolls in the first four months of this year for recent felony convictions . Among those removed , 51 % are Democrats and 17 % are Republicans .

Nationally , 38 % of the people disenfrachised due to felony convictions are African-American , according to the Sentencing Project . The American Civil Liberties Union said Florida has the nation 's largest share of disenfranchised voters , where nearly one out of every five black men overall is ineligible to vote .

Every vote counts in Florida , a heavily contested battleground in the 2012 elections and the pivotal player in the result of the 2000 elections , which was decided by 537 votes in favor of George Bush .

Another swing state crucial to the elections this year is Virginia , where former felons who have served their sentences and paid all fines and restitution must wait `` a minimum of two years for a non-violent offense or five years for a violent felony or drug distribution , drug manufacturing offense , any crimes against a minor , or an election law offense '' before applying to have their voting rights restored .

Pradia was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 1994 for a crack cocaine conviction that she says was the result of her abusive relationship with a drug dealer . In 2000 , then-President Bill Clinton commuted her sentence to time served .

But that was n't the end of her punishment .

`` One of the collateral consequences of having been incarcerated is losing my right to vote , '' she told a United Nations Human Rights Council panel in Geneva last week . An NAACP delegation urged the U.N. 's special rapporteur on racism to investigate what it said were racially discriminatory election laws in the United States .

Not being able to vote `` makes one feel inferior , '' Pradia told CNN Tuesday .

`` You do n't want people that are trying to reintegrate , trying to live a better lifestyle , to feel this way , '' she added . `` It 's hard for me to be able to explain to my children why I 'm not able to vote when I pay taxes , and they see me working hard and doing things I should be doing as a citizen . ''

Pradia said she applied in August for her voting rights to be restored in Virginia . She has not yet received a response to her request .

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Pradia was convicted of a first-time , non-violent drug offense in Virginia in 1992

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The NAACP says state efforts to block ex-felons from voting is discriminatory

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Florida has one of the toughest processes to restore former felons ' voting rights